Close-Up

IN DEFENSE OF
Aishwarya Rai
The woman and the image

She’s Bollywood’s numero uno star who of late has been more in the news for her personal problems than her professional achievements. But the Ash I know from my encounters over the past five years is very different from the Ash of the cooked-up fiction you find in film glossies. She’s a warm, straight-forward person, very sure about what she wants and what she expects from you. To be honest the first time I went to meet her even I had this preconceived notion that she was a “fake”. But to my surprise I came across someone who was so vulnerable and so refreshingly normal. Though she was a top model, a Miss India runners-up and a Miss World who was determined to make a niche for herself in the film industry, Ash didn’t behave like a star or even a well-known personality. She was just like any other beautiful girl-next-door.

I don’t know why people call her a “fake”...I find her so transparent where her emotions are concerned. When she is hurt her face shows it! I remember meeting her once at Film City, soon after she returned from a month-long schedule of Rishi Kapoor’s Aa Ab laut Chalen in the US. There was a lot of talk about her and cinematographer Sameer Arya at the time even though Sameer was engaged to Shristhi Behl. Ash was very disturbed by the rumours and the repercussions on the soon-to-be wed couple. “You are also engaged to be married. Imagine how you fiancee would react if she heard something like this about you even though there’s no truth to the story?” she asked me, her hurt bewilderment reflected clearly in her amber eyes, and prodded me to talk to the unit of Aa Ab laut Chalen before writing anything on the subject. I didn’t have to. I believed her. We didn’t print the story.

Ash is a true professional and hates breaking commitments. When she has to she’s guilt-stricken. I remember once she had to cancel a cover shoot with Akshaye Khanna who had just made his debut in Himalayaputra. A shoot my colleagues and I had gone through a lot of trouble to organize. She had broken into a sudden rash and there was no way she could do the shoot. But she couldn’t stop apologizing.

Ash is always ready to give explanations. Even when they’re not required. A couple of years ago when she turned up for a film function all bruised and bandaged speculations were rife that she’d been beaten up by the man she was going around with. When I stopped by to see how she was she took me out to the landing and described to me how as is a habit with her, she’s leaned back, missed her step and fallen down the staircase. It was an accident, she asserted. Not assault.

When Ash is happy her smile says it all. Every year on her birthday she’s like an excited little girl, attending to every phone call and chatting with every friend who turns up to wish her. I’m one of them. I was there this year too and Ash was as friendly as ever even though today I am not associated with any publication. For Ash a friend is forever!

So why is she called a “fake”? I guess it is because Ash takes time to open up to strangers. But once she knows you she trusts you implicitly. She forms her own opinions of you and is not influenced by what others have to say. If she likes you she’ll stand by you through thick and thin!

I remember during Hamara Dil Aapke Paas Hai a top designer was to design her costumes. But Ash insisted on Neeta Lulla, her regular designer. And got her way.

She’s also very loyal to photographer Farrokh Chhotia who over the years has become a good friend. Farrokh can be quite intimidating and even a little arrogant. When I was fixing a photo-session with him I found him difficult and told Ash as much. On the day of the shoot when we reached Farrokh’s studio the first thing Ash did was introduce me to him and break the ice. And once I got to know Farrokh he became a friend too.

Ash is normally very cool in the midst of a controversial storm. Where sensitive issues are concerned she likes to keep a dignified silence. When Manisha Koirala was lashing out at her she refused to retaliate. The only statement she made on the subject was, “The media makes it seem as if Manisha changes her boyfriends every month.” The quote was printed on the cover of a film magazine as, “Manisha changes her boyfriends every month!” Ash was angry and hurt by the dirty distortion. “Why me!” she wailed.

When another film glossy wrote about how Raveena Tandon had caught her and Akshay Kumar red-handed by the pool of a five-star hotel a furious Ash took the magazine to court and filed a Rs 2 crore suit against it. After that the media became wary of misquoting her.

Such outbursts of temper are rare for Ash. Usually she’s wonderfully patient even when a Shabnam Kapoor harrasses her on the phone at odd hours for not giving her dates and threatens to commit suicide on her doorstep! Despite Shabnam’s tirade Ash is still shooting for her film, Radhesham Seetaram.

Ash chose to keep mum even when Inder Kumar hit out at her. And was surprisingly mature when her personal life made front page headlines time and again. The press dragged her family through mud insisting that her parents strongly disapproved of her relationship with Salman Khan. They wrote of how her mother had made a trip down South to stop at all the temples and pray that good sense would prevail. They insisted that the relationship had turned Mrs. Rai into a nervous wreck. Could someone who’s just had a breakdown be able to pen a film script? The stories got ridiculous with every passing day. There were talks of how Ash had air-dashed to Hyderabad to “entertain” Salman for a night. Ash refused to hit back. In fact, recently when I met her she was as warm as ever and had no complaints about the fourth estate.

But are we being fair to Ash? Undoubtedly her fans would want to know everything about her personal life but in the name of facts do we have to sensationalise fiction? What has Ash done to deserve this? Has she leaked out a national secret to a rival country? Was she seen shaking hands with an underworld don? Has she ever misused her star power and got away with doing something unlawful? So why is she everyone’s favourite punching bag? She is single and unattached. So is the guy she’s going around with. So where’s the question of a scandal?

What’s worse is that the relationship is now being given a communal colour. The RSS mouthpiece Panchjanya has listed ten reasons why Ash should not associate with Salman. Hasn’t Hrithik Roshan married a Muslim girl, Suzzane Khan? Aren’t Shah Rukh Khan and Aamir Khan married to Hindu women? So why shouldn’t Ash and Salman be together if it makes them happy? Why can’t we just live and let live!

Parag

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